L a s t R evol
u t io n .
which evinces how the Arabs carried with them a thirft after
knowlege; brit they were looked on by their brethren as apo-
ilates, for mingling with a nation whofe rites were fo contrary to
their own.
N o t w i t h s t a n d in g the Mahometans have been fettled fo
many centuries in China, they are in many places confidered as
intruders, are treated moft contemptuoufly by the vulgar, and
iometimes their mofques have been dfemoliihed by the mob. -
L e t me now return to the temporal concerns o f the Chinefe
empire. The lait revolution was effeited in 1644. The emperor
Tfong-Cbing, reduced to defpair by a fuccefsful rebellion,
put himfelf to death ; his brave general made head againft the
ufurper, but unfortunately, like our Vortigern, called in the af-
fiftance of a foreign power ; he invoked the Manchew Tartars,
who, headed by their monarch Tfong-te, united with him, and
■ expelled the ufurper. Tfong-te died asioon as that was effeited ;
hut before his death, declared his infant fon emperor of China.
The general found his error too late, yet fubmitted to the necef-
fity, and fupported the new fucceffion. From that time the
Tartar line continued on the throne '■ -but the prince, and all the
Tartarian fubjeifs he brought with him, adopted, in the moft minute
articles, the antient rules of the empire, its laws and cuftoms,
■and affumed the habits of the conquered people. Tartars and
Chinefe are admitted indifferently to places of truft civil and military.
The Tartars compofe moft of the garrifons, but are now
grown as effeminate as the Chinefe themfelves, and very little fu-
perior to the native foldiery. The army o f China confifts o f
5 , feven
feven hundred thoufand men, difperfed in garrifons, or along
the great wall; are well cloathed and armed, and make a fine
figure on a review or on a march.
T he chara£teriftic features o f the- Chinefe in the males,- are a CFHoIrNmESoEf,t h e
large forehead, fhort nofe, well cut frnall eyes, a large and lquare
face, greatbroad ears,.a middle.'-fized mouth, black hair, and- a large
an d fat body. Thefe.conftitute beauty in our fex. The complexions
in general are as fair as Europeans, unlefs in the fouthern
provinces, or among the rank of people who are obliged to be
expofed to the open air.
T he nofes o f the females are fhort, their eye's little, their ears
long, their complexions ruddy, their features regular, and countenances
gay; their feet artificially fmall. It has ever been the L i t t i e F e e t .
Cuftom of the.nurfes to bind thofe parts fo clofe, as to prevent -
them from growing ; they efteem this a beauty, notwithftanding
it gives them a lamenefs in their gait; yet they think the fmall-
nefs of their feet a charm, and fhew them as much as pof-
fible.
I sh a l l now fpeak of the genius of this Angular people, and Arts-
the progrefs they have made in the arts.
I w i l l begin with the medical. All their Materia Medica M e d i c a e . .
anfwers to our Galenical medicines, being drawn from limples;
they have a good knowlege o f the ufes o f the vegetable kingdom.
They never meddle with the violent remedies; gentle
cathartics, emollients,ftrengtheners, are the kinds they principally
prefcribe. Green and bohea tea, the Ginfeng, and other falutary
roots, are much in ufe. They are totally ignorant of anatomy, but
pretend to great fagacity in the knowlege o f the pulfe; they
noit